How to Handle Hostile Questions During a Presentation (2024)
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Most audiences are friendly, but there is always that one exception: the guy (or lady) scowling in the third row throughout your presentation. When you finish your presentation, his hand shoots up. You know he is about to contradict, criticize, or attack you or your information. What do you do?
Assuming you cannot avoid calling on this person (which you often cannot), you need to have a response strategy.
These situations are stressful, but they don’t have to be. The most important thing to remember is to stay calm and resist your natural instinct to give an immediate answer and to be excessively defensive.
Step 1: Remember that half of the problem is in your head. You have already anticipated a tremendous amount of pain, yet the person has not even begun to ask his question. There is no need to get upset unnecessarily. Push those feelings down. Summon your friendliest voice, smile, and ask for their question.
Step 2: Listen carefully to their question. Don’t worry too much about your response yet. If you are thinking too much about your response, you will not be able to effectively digest their question. Understanding what they are asking is paramount to responding effectively.
Step 3: Pin down the motivation behind their question. Reflect what you feel they are expressing back to them: “It sounds like your main concern is with the methodology. Is that correct?” This will push them to rethink their question and will give you additional time to begin formulating a response.
Step 4: Give yourself time to think by using a few delaying phrases: “Thank you for your question. (Brief Pause) There are a few ways I could respond. (Brief Pause) Let me say this.”
Step 5: Respond. When you do respond, try to focus on just one response and perhaps one supporting example.
Step 6: Wrap up and move on. When you have finished your response, say, “Thank you for your question. Does anyone else have a question?” This will help eliminate the possibility that the person will ask an aggressive follow-up question and will allow you to move on to questions from more supportive audience members.
Maintain an attitude of respect, and stay cool and in control. Attempt to defuse the hostile questioner with respect and goodwill. Never give the impression that you think a question is stupid or irrelevant, even if it clearly is. strike back at a hostile question.
The presenter should stand throughout the feedback session. Be polite/confident/courteous when responding to questions. Ensure that each question/comment is clearly understood before responding/re-phrase questions if uncertain. He should first listen and then respond.
If there are some obvious and big objections to what you're saying, respectfully and thoughtfully talk them through, first presenting the opposing idea fairly and then saying why you disagree. Most often, people with opposing points of view are disarmed simply by being recognized – fairly.
If you're not going to answer the question, either now or later, let the audience know why this is the case; for example, “It is outside the scope of this presentation so I won't be covering it today”. Rephrase/Repeat the questions – there are two reasons for doing this.
Instead, be honest and humble, and admit that you don't know the answer, or that you need more information or time to find it. This will show that you are authentic and confident, and that you value accuracy and quality over quantity.
Broadly defined, hostility includes any query that challenges your narrative – both the way you want to tell it and the conclusions that it demonstrates. In this sense, hostile questions range from innocuous or merely rude interruptions to mild differences of opinion to highly charged challenges.
Prioritize clarity and relevance in your answers, avoiding unnecessary jargon or verbosity. The more you know, the better equipped you are to provide informed and intelligent answers.
Reframe a hostile question using more objective words. If a questioner seems antagonistic, be careful not to become defensive. Reframe the question using less hostile and more objective words. Acknowledge the other person's position, and work on creating a mutual understanding of the issue.
Introduction: My name is Kareem Mueller DO, I am a vivacious, super, thoughtful, excited, handsome, beautiful, combative person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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